Elsja Down Under

So Boring I Don’t Even Have a Good Title March 4, 2010

How can one feel so overwhelmed, yet so bored at the same time? I have so much going on in my brain, yet nothing to write about. No cool stories to share, no interesting experiences. None, zip, nada. I’m really going to struggle to pull ANYTHING out of my hat to try to keep my few readers around… but I suppose I’ll try.

I got a new $370 suitcase for free. That probably translates to $100 US in value but who cares. Qantas dropped my bag when I flew back in November and broke one of the wheels. Since no parts were available to fix it, they just handed over a brand new bag. Pretty sweet I suppose although it doesn’t have the chrome rims on the wheels. I’ll miss my chrome wheels. A million people have red bags, but I rarely ever see shiny silver wheels rolling down the luggage belt.

I finished our wedding website. WOOHOO.

We’re going to Africa next week. I guess that’s pretty interesting but since we haven’t been yet I don’t have any stories to share. I’ll get back to you on that topic when we return in April.

I’m not really sick anymore. I still have a tiny bit of a cough but my stubbornness and refusal to go to the doctor paid off… the illness went away on its own without the assistance of antibiotics.

I think I want to try to enjoy green tea as much as I enjoy wine. I seriously doubt that will ever happen, but I do think both beverages might have assisted in the eventual recovery from my nasty bug.

Only 177 days to go until the big day! It still seems so far away but I know it will come quickly.

I crossed off another item from my 101 list!  #2- Get a skin check is now complete. My skin is nice and healthy and evidently not as damaged as the skin of  Australians my age. Sweet.

Yeah- that’s all. I told you my life was pretty boring lately.

1 Year Left January 11, 2010

I have until the end of this year to finish my 101 goals.  I know for a fact I won’t accomplish them all but I’m not too worried. The fact that I will complete A LOT of my goals by 12/31/10 is still an achievement to me!  Here’s a little update of a few more things I have finished in the last few months.

#87. Buy a fondue set and use it. Although I did this, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. First of all, the brie in this country doesn’t melt. I don’t know why but the recipes that I made quite easily back in the US just don’t seem to turn out the same here. Secondly, we had to use liquid fuel stuff to light the burner and unfortunately some spilled on my hand and then my hand proceeded to catch on fire. I’m not joking, it was actually up in flames! It also caught the table on fire and now there is a big burn mark on Yorky and Brendan’s table. Luckily my hand is ok. Hurt like hell but no scars! Not surprisingly, I haven’t pulled the fondue pot out since.

#94. Go through my clothes and donate anything I don’t wear. I did this ages ago and I really need to do it again, but since I DID do this at least once, I’m marking it complete.

#9. Go to a yoga class once a month. While I did not go once a month from the beginning of the project, I ended up going to WAY more than the 33 classes I would need to fulfill this goal, so I’m marking it as complete.

#27. Buy cloth grocery bags and decline plastic bags. While I’ve only used them once (I’ve only been shopping once), at least I took the initiative and bought 5 of them. They are much easier to carry as well!

#6. Read 10 books. Not only have I finished this, I’ve almost finished # 103 (Read 10 more books). I won’t go into a full book review on each since  I’ve already blogged about a few but I’ll at least say if  I liked it or not. Here’s a list of the first 10 that I got through.

• Eat, Pray, Love – great- but i think I liked it so much because I hadn’t read ANY other books in years. Looking back I’ve read way better books since this one. I’d still recommend it.
• The Last Lecture- Everyone should read this, it’s really short and easy to read and puts your life into perspective
• Not Without my Sister -Depressing and not too spectacular. Don’t bother.
• Twilight  – xoxoxo
• New Moon- Not as good as twilight but still wonderful
• Eclipse – Even more wonderful
• Breaking Dawn – Fabulous
• Body Surfing – Lame, not worth your time.
• Why we Suck – Super funny and true, I love this kind of humor.
• The Host – Pretty good, but not as good as the twilight books

I’m looking forward to finishing many more items this year. I know quite a few will be checked off due to some of our wedding festivities so that makes things a bit easier. I have to admit though, having only 1 more year to complete this stuff doesn’t seem like nearly enough time!

Fat Monk December 23, 2009

We tried a new restaurant this week. It was so good that we had it again, 2 days later.

Fat Monk is a Thai/Asian restaurant in Cremorne. We decided to try it out on Monday with our friends Mike and Hayley and tonight when our other friends felt like Asian food, we suggested that we go back there.

I’ll get straight to the point:

Decor: 10 – Super cool decor. A combination of cow hide ottoman cushions, raw wood walls, funky paintings of Buddha and an awesome wrought iron chandelier with red shades somehowall really goes together. It’s super funky and it has total character. You would think a place like this would be totally overpriced and trendy- but that’s not the case at all! Even the servers wear cute little Asian outfits. Super cool!

Value:  7-8-  It’s not the cheapest Thai we’ve had but it’s not the most expensive either. I’d say the rice is a little overpriced at $3 for a little bowl, but other than that, everything is pretty comparable to other Thai in the area.

Service: 10- I’m going to make a bold statement and say it’s the best service I’ve had in Australia. They don’t put jugs of water on the table, they actually come around and refill your glasses. You never have to ask for more water either! When the glass is getting empty, they magically appear to fill it for you. They even came around to refill our wine glasses and  the food comes out really quickly too.

Taste: 9- While I still think Thai Intra might be my all time favorite Thai food, I would go as far as saying that this is probably my second favorite so far. It’s not oily like some other places we’ve had. The dishes had tons of fresh veggies and the chicken is super delish. It’s great!! We’ve been twice now in one week, I think that says a lot right there.

As an added bonus, we can walk there from our house. It’s a bit of an uphill trek, but it’s close enough to walk so we can at least burn off 1/18th of what we are eating.

I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

Did I Mention… October 5, 2009

…that Andrew and I bought an apartment?

We’ve been in the process of buying the apartment since December 08. It was only completed in August and the last few months have been HELL in terms of settling. I’ll spare you the details but I think the words “bank bureaucracy” can sum it up nicely.  I didn’t even tell most of my family about the place until this last month because I was too worried it wouldn’t work out for some reason. But it did!

So time to cross #47- Own a Property- off my 101 list! WOOHOO!

 Oh and while I’m at it, I’ll cross off a few more that I’ve accomplished in the last few weeks:

#68- See another big production musical/play on stage. I saw Wicked last month with some of Andrew’s family and it was great. Honestly, as good as it was- I don’t think it was AS rave worthy as some of my Wicked obsessed friends back home made it out to be. Awesome story line and great music, but Miss Saigon is still my favorite.

#91- Get an Aussie Driver’s license. This one had actually been deleted from my list because I didn’t think it was possible. Technically you need to be on Aussie soil for 6 months (without leaving) in order to legally get one. Or… you can just let your American license expire and then go to the RTA with your fingers crossed and hope they give you one anyways. Luckily, when your overseas license expires, they DO give you one. Too bad the picture sucks ass.

A Few Updates August 18, 2009

My life has suddenly become so exciting, and yet so boring at the same time. Exciting because I have all this wedding stuff swimming around in my brain and it’s exciting to plan and organize and browse websites looking for ideas. It’s boring, because other than that- I fee like I have hardly anything else to discuss!! So… I’ll just give a tiny brief wedding update and then I’ll try to find something else to talk about

• We’re 95% set on the location- just need to figure out a few logistics, but hopefully we’ll know for sure by Wednesday
• This means we’re also 95% sure on the date… if all goes well it will be 8.28.10
• I decided on a color scheme and hopefully bridesmaids dresses as well
• We’re pretty set on our guest list

Now on to other news…

This weekend was spectacular in terms of weather! Here’s what we did on Sunday:

 

Andrew, our friend Ben and I went down to Balmoral and had an impromptu picnic. It was such nice weather- we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sit in the sun for a bit. The beach was packed and we didn’t feel like getting sandy so we sat on the grass and ate our little picnic lunch. Sinead met us down there as well and it was great to catch up. Not bad for a winter’s day!!

Lastly I decided to finally update my 101 list seeing as how I haven’t updated it in FOREVER. Here are a few things I’ve accomplished over the last few weeks:

#20- Get engaged… YAY!!

#11- Got 5 people to create a 101 list

Here are a few of them but I apologize that I cannot remember them all – Daisy , Laura, Natasha (no more blog?), Ruthann and there’s one more… someone please remind me who you are

#76- create a signature cocktail… remember my Grapelberry Fizz? That counts, right?

#93- get renter’s insurance- FINALLY! Only took us nearly 2 years of living here!!

I’m well on my way with a few other tasks as well… so hopefully I should have a few more to cross off in the coming months!

Yumdiddly #1- Grapelberry Fizz July 20, 2009

This weekend was full of yummy drinks and dinners and treats so I thought I’d tell you about them in a series of Yumdiddly blog posts.

Here comes post number 1- Friday Game Night

Kristin hosted a game night and 10 of us gathered in Northbridge to play some Cranium and Apples to Apples… games = good times. Not only was it fun, it was a tasty night as well. The takeout Thai was good and  so was the phenomenal brie and sweet chili dip- I really need to buy some of that stuff!! Kristin even made a nice little dessert of fresh strawberries and ice cream. On top of all the great food, I also finally got to try my dream drink. By “dream drink” I don’t mean that it’s the best drink I’ve ever had or anything. I literally mean I had a dream about this. A few months ago I invented it in my head as I slept and therefore decided to try it out to see how it tastes. Well I think my nifty new drink concoction was pretty good and a little too easy to drink.   I like to call it “Grapleberry Fizz.” It’s not the classiest of names, but it’s fun to say and describes all aspects of the drink- so here’s the recipe in case you want to try some Grapleberry Fizz for yourself!

 (Measurements aren’t precise since I made it  using about 5 different ratios throughout the night)

• 1 short/lowball glass
• grape vodka (I did about 2 shots)
• soda water (filled ’til glass was about 3/4 full)
• cranberry juice (topped up)
• fresh squeezed lime juice (to taste)

So the review?? It was good- sweet but not TOO sweet and reminded me of a grape sucker. Andrew thought it was disgusting and Kris thought it tasted like grape Hubba Bubba.

Coming up on the next Yumdiddly…

Chicken Pasta Bake

A Taste of India May 24, 2009

Andrew and I joined a few of his friends on Friday night at an Indian restaurant in Crows Nest called Cumin. I was very skeptical to try this place since most of my experiences with Indian food had been quite bad. I’d go as far as saying that before I came to this place, I just flat out did not like Indian food. Well, that has changed. This place made me realize that not all Indian HAS to taste the same and be super oily and heavy. In fact, it reminded me more of Radio Cairo, which I blogged about previously. Our table got an array of things from the Beef Vindaloo and Chicken Murg Madrass to the vegetarian Cholay Masala and Palek Paneer.  I only ate the vegetarian dishes, and they were definitely tasty. The Cholay Masala was a typical chickpea curry thing but it was better than some I’ve had because it wasn’t super oily and runny. The Palek Paneer looked gross (think mushy green baby food), but was super delish! If you like spinach, you must try this. If you don’t like spinach, steer clear because it is pretty much made of a pureed spinach sauce with these little “cottage cheese” type squares. Both of these went extremely well with the light, fluffy rice. Oh and the garlic naan bread… you really can never go wrong with that delectable treat! It’s all pretty new to me, but I’m just happy that this restaurant restored my faith in Indian food!

Now for my review on a scale of 1 to 10 stars

Decor: 7 – nothing fancy but it was definitely nice, clean and comfortable. To be honest, the place was PACKED full of people so I really can’t even remember what it looked like other than the billions of people in there. We couldn’t even get a booking until 8:15 because it was so crowded (and a bit loud). I was told that it’s less crowded (and quieter) during the week.

Value: 8 - As always, I base this off of other restaurants in Sydney. We got 6 dishes, 2 things of rice, several orders of naan and pappadums and we all had corkage fees and it probably cost us about $30 bucks each if I remember correctly. While it’s not a super cheap night out, I’d say for what we got, it was good value!

Service: 9 – I really don’t have anything to complain about here. Servers were attentive and quick  and we didn’t have to wait too long for our food. I suppose they could have filled out water more often

Taste: 8- Yum. While I’m still not going to say that Indian is my favorite cuisine, I will say that this food was very enjoyable… to the point where I’ve already started having dilemmas on which vegetarian option I’d order of the two I tried if Andrew and I were to go there on our own.

We’ll definitely be going back.

To continue with the Indian theme, Andrew and I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday. I had heard so much about this movie and how great it was but I had a limited knowledge of the movie (which is the way I like it) so I really only knew it was about a poor Indian guy who goes on “Who wants to be a millionaire” and wins. I didn’t really see how it could be that great based on that plot, but now I understand.

I thought it was a really good movie that I would definitely watch again. The actors were great (I love the little kid above), the script was funny at times and definitely kept my interest, the music was awesome and it was such a touching story which really makes you appreciate living in an advanced country with access to  food, money, good jobs and good governments (and toilets) .  I also thought it was a really interesting idea for a movie in the way that they show how people come to have knowledge based on life experiences, not just from books and education alone.

If you haven’t seen it… see it. If you are in the area and you haven’t been to Cumin…go!

More reviews and the short but funny tale of revenge are coming tomorrow!

Baja Cantina May 18, 2009

Mexican food is certainly hard to come by in Australia. Wait… I take that back. GOOD Mexican is hard to come by. We’ve tried many places and some have been decent. Luckily we’ve stayed away from all the really bad ones thanks to reviews by other American Expats warning us of the crap quality. So it was a very pleasant surprise when Andrew took me to a yummy Mexican restaurant on Valentines day. Yes, Valentines day… I know this blog is 3 months too late. But I’m in restaurant review mode so take what you can get, ok?Â

Baja Cantina is a little restaurant in Glebe and it’s really good if you like California/Baja style Mexican food. I’m not going to say this is REALLY authentic Mexican, because I really don’t think it is. But it tastes a lot like authentic California Mexican which makes me very happy. The first time we went we went we ordered way too much food. 2 things of chips and salsa, nachos and fajitas. The fajitas are really good! They come with all the necessary sides including cheese and guacamole which are usually only offered if you are willing to pay for it. The nachos were super bad for us but super yummy in our tummies! They even have black beans which are hard to find here. I asked for a side of limes and they brought me 6 slices… practically a whole lime. I was in heaven! Oh, and did I mention the delish Sangria and cheap coronas? Of course those made the experience even better!

So we went again a few weeks ago with a couple of Andrew’s friends and the food and service was just as good. Wait, did I say the service was good? Why yes, yes I did. Amazing considering this is an Australian restaurant I’m writing about. Does it sound bad if I say the great service is probably due to the fact that 90% of the servers are American?? It probably does sound a bit bad to the Aussies, but even Andrew agrees with that one.

I still think it’s funny when we go to Mexican with Australians and they pronounce quesadillas the way they are actually spelled (quay so dilas) and tortilllla.  I don’t think I’d be able to work there. I’d constantly be correcting people and/or laughing when they butcher the Spanish language. You really can’t blame the Aussies though… they weren’t brought up with an abundance of everything Spanish like we were in California.

Another thing I find interesting when dining with Aussies at a Mexican restaurant is trying to explain the difference between fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, chimichangas and burritos. Go ahead, think about it. If you had to explain the difference, how would you do it? “Well this one is folded up in a tortilla with stuff inside but there is no sauce,  this one is  folded up in a tortilla with cheese and sauce on top, and this one you eat like tacos but the stuff comes on a sizzling plate.” Really, it is hard to try to explain the difference to someone. It’s one of those things you either just know and understand or you dont.

Now for my expert review on a scale of 1-10 stars

Decor: 7 – it was cute but nothing really stands out for me as being extra special

Value: 7 –  I’m basing this on the cost of most Mexican food in Australia. Compared to other places, Baja Cantina is fairly cheap (especially the coronas).

Service: 8.5 – this place probably has some of the best service I’ve seen in Australia

Taste: 8.5 – I really have minimal complaints. Everything from the tortillas to the beans to the sangria is great. But they do lose 1.5 stars for having mediocre guacamole and bland rice.

We’ll definitely be heading to Baja Cantina any time we need our fix of Mexican food!!

**While I’m on the topic, I also suggest Flying Fajita Sisters in Glebe for Taco Tuesday. They have great 2 dollar tacos and their Sangria (in my opinion) is even better than Baja Cantina… especially the white wine Sangria. Yum!**

Radio Cairo May 12, 2009

I have visited a few new restaurants in the last few weeks and have failed to provide reviews   Bad, bad Elsja. So I thought I’d go ahead and write about one that we went to about a month or so ago. Radio Cairo is a cool little African restaurant near our house in Cremorne. I have to admit, I was a bit afraid to try African food. Seriously… what IS African food anyways? But we headed there with a few friends and I was pleasantly surprised.

The appetizers were a bit small for the money, but they were delish! We got this carmalized onion/cheese bread and if it weren’t so expensive, I would rave about it. This other appetizer was like this tortilla roll with potatos and sauce. Everyone else shared some meaty and seafoody type dishes, and I got this vegetarian curry thing. We all shared rice and tasty cous cous. I realize I’m not being very specific here- but it was over a month ago and I don’t really remember all the ingredients or what these dishes were called. I will say that I DO remember them being full of flavor, not too oily with lots of spice (beware if you don’t like spicy food) and overall very appetizing.

So here’s my overall review on a scale of 1 to 10 stars (5 stars just isn’t enough anymore)

Decor: 6.5 – Cute place, but nothing too fun or fancy

Value: 6.5- I think the food wasn’t bad compared to most restaurants, but the entree/appetizers were way overpriced

Taste: 7.5 - Since I HAD to order vegetarian, I can’t give it a perfect score (I’d prefer chicken) but it was pretty darn good for vego food!

I’d definitely go back! I’m looking forward to trying the one other vegetarian item on the menu. Maybe next time I’ll remember what we ordered so I can provide more descriptive reviews of the food!

1 Year of 101 April 4, 2009

So this is the 1 year mark of the start of my 101 in 1001 days goal list. If you don’t know what I’m talking about… Read MY LIST. So seeing as how one year has passed, I thought I’d give a little update on where I am with my list and where I’m going. Some of my goals have been a big success, some little successes and some just flat out need to be changed. I don’t feel right just changing my goals midway; however, it’s already evident that I just will not be accomplishing some that required consistent monthly work. So I’ve decided that rather than letting those spots go to waste for things I cannot achieve, I’ll cross them off, donate $5 to charity for each one I’ve failed at and add some new ones. Note to self: monthly goals are NOT easy to keep up with!

So what HAVE I accomplished?

• 4. Get a massage with Andrew
• 5. Create a “101 things that  make me happy” list
• 6. Read 10 books. Technically I’ve got a few hundred pages of my 9th book- but that will be finished this month so I’m marking that off as done! Haven’t blogged about this yet, so this will count as my blog post for this goal. Here’s a list of the books I read: Eat Pray Love, The Last Lecture, Not Without my Sister, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Body Surfing, Why We Suck, The Host.
• 13. Complete a list of 20 tasks I’ve already accomplished that I am proud of
• 23. Get in touch with someone I haven’t talked to in years
• 25. Plant a chili pepper plant (I’ve done this twice now)
• 31. Research presidential candidates
• 32. Vote in the 2008 election
• 33. Do the Harbour Bridge climb
• 40. Go kayaking
• 45. Add 3 new board games to our collection
• 46. Watch the fireworks over Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve
• 48. Save at least $5000- here’s another one I haven’t blogged about, because I didn’t realized I reached this goal until compiling this list! woohoo!
• 51. Create a master “packing list”
• 56. Fly business class
• 62. Take a Spanish class
• 69. Clean out all the old stuff I don’t want from my itunes (although I should probably do this again)
• 72. Buy a Wii
• 73. Buy new pillows for the bed
• 74. Buy a dehumidifier to help alleviate mold/allergy problems
• 80. Write down my recipe for chili
• 84. Make Sangria
• 87. Buy a “how-to” cooking book and read it cover to cover
• 90. Become a resident in Australia
• 94. Go through old clothes and donate things I don’t wear (another thing I never blogged about… so consider it blogged)!
• 99. Buy a filing system and organize all paperwork
• 100. Create a special calendar to track all my tasks

Here are the ones I’ll be changing and donating to charity for.

• 16. Write at least 1 email to friends/family each month. Ok, so I WAS doing this and I was doing it well! But I hardly ever got responses back. It’s pretty hard to stay motivated to write to people EVERY month when I don’t get much response. So this one is going away.
• 17. Talk to my niece and nephew on the webcam once per month. It’s sad because I do want to do this- but I realize my goals cant really be dependent on other people’s schedules. It’s hard to find a good time to talk to the kids let alone to schedule a call with them on the computer.
• 36. Go on at least one planned date each month with Andrew. This one is just too hard to track. We go out to dinner and stuff, but I wouldn’t always call it a date. We don’t really plan “dates” that often, so sadly, this one is going.
• 68. Read the Aussie citizenship book a few times. This I just have no interest in. At least not now. I’m not even eligible for citizenship for at least 4 years- so I’ll think about this later.
• 91. Get an Aussie driver’s license. This one is just not possible. I either have to be a permanent resident or I have to be in the country 6 months (without leaving). Seeing as how I go home often, it looks like I won’t be able to get a license for a long time!
• 97. Buy fresh flowers once a month. Like number 16, this one started out well but just fizzled from there. I still want to do this, but I won’t freak if I don’t- so this one is getting replaced!

So that’s 30 bucks that I need to donate to charity and 6 more goals that I need to come up with fairly quickly. Oh, and I’m still looking for people to help me reach #11- get 5 people to create a list. I think I only know of 2 or 3 that did initially… so let me know if you do!

The Next Step March 26, 2009

I’ve finally decided to take the next big step in ex-pat living. It’s been a year and a half exactly (tomorrow) since I moved to Australia and so I do think it is about time.

I’m going to an Australian hairdresser. Well, technically I think he’s English- but he has a salon in Australia (Stevie English) and that’s what matters. You see, for the last 18 months I’ve managed to put off getting my hair done until each of my visits home to California. I always had two things going for me… one being the fact that I go home roughly every 3 months and the second being the fact that my hair is light enough that I can wait 3 months to get it done without having 3 inch black roots/regrowth. But seeing as how I may not be going home until the end of May- I really didn’t think I should wait 5 months to do my hair. So I’m taking the leap.

This is big for 3 reasons:

1. I don’t like going to people who I don’t know/trust to do my hair. I’ve been going to the same girl for years and I don’t like change. Luckily, I’m going to the husband of a friend- so it’s not some random stranger, that puts me at ease

2. I have a wedding to go to on Saturday so if it turns out cruddy, I’ll be hideous in all the photos. I’m sure it will be fine though, in fact I would put money that Andrew won’t even notice I got it done.

3. The salon is in Glebe. For most of you, that means nothing- but for me, it means I need to drive over the bridge to get there. Now, I could just take a bus to the city and then another bus to glebe and then walk a ways and then do it all again to get home. OR, I could just suck it up and drive across the bridge for the first time in my life. My driving has been limited to the north side of the bridge up until this point and since I am being brave and trying new things- I’m just gonna go for it! (By the way… this means I will be reaching another of my 101 goals. #92- drive myself in the city or to and from the airport). YAY

But I think I lshould eave 1 1/2 hours early (it’s 25 minutes away) to allow for traffic, getting lost, missing turns and having to drive around 5 blocks to find my way back to where I want to go, road rage, panic, and parking.

Wish me luck.

Week in Revew March 9, 2009

We’ve had a great first week with my parents! We’ve managed to stay pretty busy with just a few days of relaxation here and there which is always good.

After a day at Darling Harbour and Wildlife World we relaxed a bit and then got geared up for the Bridge Climb. This was a surprise for my dad and it turned out to be a good one since one of the first things he noticed as he drove in were the people climbing the bridge. He had no idea you could do that- but of course he quickly became interested. I knew my mom would want nothing to do with climbing the bridge- she’s afraid of heights. While they market the climb as good for overcoming your fears- I just don’t think my mom really has any desire to overcome her fears on this particular vacation. The climb was a lot easier than I expected. The incline is so slight that it wasn’t tough at all. I have no fear of heights so the “looking 400 feet down” didn’t bother me. I used to have a fear of bridges though… clearly that is no longer a problem. It was a great experience… and it means I get to cross off  number 37 from my 101 list (again). I’ve already crossed it off because it states “Do the Harbour Bridge climb or at least walk across it”- well, now I’ve done both!

On Friday my parents had breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks and enjoyed a day riding around on one of those big red busses that takes people all around the city. They could hop on and off whenever they wanted so they were able to see the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens and a few other touristy places. 

Saturday mom, dad and I ventured out to Paddy’s markets near Chinatown. I had never been there so it was a first for me as well. After about 5 minutes I could tell my dad was miserable. I guess the whole “shopping for souvenirs” gene is just missing from all males. We stayed for about an hour and then found somewhere to eat lunch which was not easy. Food courts in Chinatown mainly consist of some bad Chinese food and gross looking ocean variety fast-food…I think I’ll pass on the Salmonella today thanks! So to avoid more shopping misery, my dad took off to go jump on that red bus again and my mom and I continued at Paddy’s. I must say- if you want cheap souvenirs- that is definitely the place to go!! Evidently, it’s also the place to go if you want wigs, trashy underwear and slutty costumes *making mental note*.

Saturday night we all met Andrew’s dad in the city and had a great dinner at Wagamama and then grabbed a coffee at a place in King Street Wharf!

Sunday we drove to Andrew’s dad’s for tea and scones…yum…and my parents got to meet the rest of Andrew’s family. We then headed over to his Mum’s to enjoy a wonderful BBQ lunch/dinner with the family.

Monday we cleaned. I’m sure that was the highlight of the whole trip so far!

Or maybe the highlight has been feeding the birdies every day and then watching them go make out. Yes, you read that right! Birdies go into the tree to make out sometimes and my dad nicely pointed this out to me (thanks). I actually find it more comforting to imagine that one just might be regurgitating food into the other’s mouth. That would be more pleasant to me than to imagine these birds getting it on in plain sight. I guess it does confirm my theory that these two are in love. Oh and boy birdy is much nicer to girl birdy these days- he doesn’t get all pissed when she tries to steal his grapes. Maybe they went to birdy counseling. 

I think we’ve had a good first week

Before I go… I’d like to wish a very HAPPY 81st Birthday to my grandma Bonnie! love you!

Book Reports February 18, 2009

So I haven’t actually felt the need to report on any books EVER. I know they made us do it in school- but it was never fun! But in less than 2 months, I have read over 2700 pages of books and I must tell the world about it. 2,700 is a lot of freaking pages. I am usually lucky if I can get through a 200 page book in a month. I’m not a huge reader as a general rule (clearly). Even when I read “Eat, Pray, Love” I hardly wanted to tell the world- but I did… on my blog… HERE.

So anyways, back to my point… I’m sure you all know by now (well, if you actually read my 101 things that make me happy list) that I LOVE the Twilight series. I got the first book for Christmas and figured I would be able to take it with me on the plane when I went home in January. I was so wrong. That book was finished in 3 1/2 days. That in itself was a miracle. One book in less than a week? Seriously amazing for me. SO then of course I was on a mission to find number 2. I NEEDED number 2 (New Moon) for the plane ride. But after a week of searching (I even had my friends on missions to find it)- I was out of luck. 5 book stores later I was still empty handed. So of course I did what any normal person would do. I googled the number for the bookstores in the Sydney airport and I called them to see if they had any copies in stock. She assured me they did… so my number 1 mission after checking in for my flight was to hobble (with my healing broken foot) to the nearest bookstore to find my treasured book. It was like a beacon of light perched on the shelf. I was happy.

I read the entire 563 pages on my flight. I didn’t sleep at all. My eyes and brain hurt.

So then I got to California and I was once again bookless. Time to buy # 3 (and 4 while I was at it) so I headed to the nearest Barnes and Noble to make my purchase. Again, I was happy.

I finished Eclipse (# 3) in the first week and then moved on to # 4, but I had to go slow. I didn’t want it to end. So I saved it (and savored it like my last little reeses pieces in the bag when I know I can’t just run to any store to buy more because they don’t sell them in this country). I made a pact to ONLY read the book while I was at the gym. Such great motivation to get to the gym and work out. My plan worked- I was motivated to work out AND the book took WAY longer to finish than the first 3.

So I realize that I haven’t actually reported on the books themselves, but more so my obsession with this series. I guess I never planned on telling you about them in the first place- that would spoil the fun!! I realize this makes me look completely insane, but for a few weeks of my life, maybe I was. If you’ve read the books (and you aren’t Jen or my mom) you will completely understand what I mean.

So what did I do when I was finished? I started a new book- “Why We Suck” by Denis Leary. Yes, the comedian/actor Denis Leary. Usually that guy drives me nuts, but I was compelled to read this book when I read the cover and realized that he was writing EXACTLY what I think about the world. I mean come on- I even have a whole blog category entitled “I hate people… sometimes.” So a whole book about why people suck is RIGHT up my alley. I must say, the book was really funny. Well, it was funny to ME- because I completely agree with most of the stuff he was saying. However, if you are a feminist, a super strict Catholic, a politician, a celebrity, an overweight person, etc… you might hate it. You might REALLY hate it. He really does go overboard sometimes- like he’s trying too hard to be funny. There were definitely parts that reminded me of why I tend to think he’s annoying as a comedian, but overall I really agree with him. People ARE loud, fat, lazy and stupid- so this book really struck a chord in my heart and made me realize I’m not alone in my disgust with 85% of mankind. If you aren’t easily offended… I suggest you read it too!

Now I’m onto a new book… but I’m not even that far in- so maybe if it’s good I’ll tell you about it when I’m finished.

South February 10, 2009

Another restaurant review… of course only the people in Australia can REALLY appreciate this- especially all my American expat friends. Andrew and I headed to a somewhat new restaurant tonight called “South.” It’s a southern American style restaurant right in my neighborhood (Neutral Bay to be precise)! No- not South American… Southern American- like ribs, crawfish and cole slaw type stuff! It’s really uber exciting for people like me to see a menu with such items as pumpkin pie, banana pudding (with real nilla wafers), pecan pie and homemade lemonade. I must admit I didn’t order any of these items, but it was really cool to know that I COULD if I wanted to (and if we wanted to pay loads for them… the desserts are pretty darn expensive).

Our first impression was good… we were greeted by the American owner Leo who was super friendly! So we went to order and we were less impressed with the waitress. She didn’t speak great English so it was hard to understand her. Andrew was really craving the Jambalaya and was really disappointed when they didn’t have any ready. If we waited an hour we could have some- but we weren’t really interested in waiting. Andrew was kind of grumpy then because he didn’t really want the ribs or pulled pork sandwiches or crawfish… he just got a small bowl of gumbo instead. He said it was “alright.” It was pretty pricy at $14 bucks for the bowl!

I on the other hand loved my smothered chicken. It was a chicken breast covered with cheese, grilled onions and bbq sauce (I requested no bacon). It came with yummy blackened corn and some greens type stuff. At $26 bucks it was pretty pricy as well- but when you take into account the fact that (A) everything in Australia is expensive and (B) The guy probably has to import items for half his menu, it’s a little more understandable. There’s not really anything like this place in the area- so it’s a nice place to go if we want something different.

I also had the homemade sweet tea which would have been good if it didn’t have lemon in it. I hate lemon in tea- but most people like it, so I can’t complain about the tea at all since it’s just not my preference. The fact that they even have fresh brewed iced tea is amazing. Most places here just have bottled lipton CRAP and they charge an arm and a leg for it!! I think I’d try the homemade lemonade next time.

Lastly, we ordered the cornbread. Definitely wouldn’t get this again. It was fine- just fine and you got 3 small pieces for 6 bucks so it wasn’t worth it. I’d definitely try one of the other sides instead though… maybe mac and cheese

At the end of the meal, Leo came out again and really apologized about the Jambalaya. He had to make 2 huge batches of ribs that day and he makes ALL the food on his own- so the jambalaya started cooking too late for us to order it. He was really cool about it, gave us his card and told us when we come back next he’ll take care of us.

So, even though Andrew wasn’t impressed with the waitress, the cornbread or the fact that he didn’t have what he wanted to eat- he still said he’d go back due to the great customer service. I’d definitely go back because my food was good and there’s a few other things I want to try.

I should start taking pictures of my food… I think that would make these restaurant reviews more exciting.

Cru 54… A Restaurant Review February 6, 2009

Two blogs in one day??? I know…what is this world coming to?? Well, my list below was just too long so I didn’t want to include this post at the end of it all. It deserves it’s own special space so I’m writing my second blog post for the day.

1. Empanadillas- these little eggplant/tomato/cheesy pastry beauties were my favorite! I had 4 of them and I probably would have had more if they weren’t $3 bucks each. While 3 bucks is not a lot, it does seem a bit much when these little gems were about the size of my thumb.
   
2. Cous Cous Moro- I was really pleased with this as well… it had pumpkin and parsnip (which I wasn’t sure about) and raisins as well as some other herbs and spices. I was pleasently surprised!
   
3. Patatas Bravas- Yummy sliced and lightly fried potatos that were even more delicious because of the wonderful cumin and coriander paste that they came with.
   
4. Pollo a la Vasca- chicken stew stuff… I didn’t eat it because it wasn’t made with chicken breast- I think the comments from the others were that it was “different.” But they ate all of it so it must have been pretty good.
   
5. Calamares a la Plancha- Calamari? GAG… no thanks. But everyone else was raving about it and saying how tender it was. Gross.
   
6. Gambas con Jamon y datil- Again… no seafood and ham for me thanks. I didn’t really hear the others comment too much on this one either. I was too busy enjoying my cous cous.
   
7. Chorizo- Yeah I don’t eat meat.
   
8. Peach Creme Brulee- Mike and SJ ordered this but I didn’t have any. Really after 4 empanadillas I didn’t need any more calories. 

    

Ok… so while I only ate 3 of the 8 things we got… I REALLY enjoyed all three of those things and I was definitely full at the end of it all- just not overly stuffed. We also got a bottle of wine and it was served in these really funky but nice wine glasses. Overall I think the food was very good, however there weren’t many “main” type options for vegetarians (only side dish type things). It was a bit pricey for everything, but it would be a good place to go if you’re in the mood for something a little different and a little special.